Harbor Hounds 2011

Grym and some Shiba friends went for a somewhat drizzly walk along the Gig Harbor waterfront this weekend. It cleared up enough to allow us to enjoy a great lunch at the Red Rooster cafe on their patio over the water. The owner, now affectionatly known as "the Bacon Man" to the canines, brought them all a piece of awesome bacon in celebration of dogs.

"Where's the Bacon Man?"

"Comrade, I would like some beer!"



"Is there bacon over here?"

"Phooey, no more bacon makes me a sad panda"

Shiba Inus Are Horrid

To whomever had this google query which brought them to my blog:

"shiba inus are horrid"

Quite a bold cow poke aren't you, telling google how Shibas really are and such. Why are you reading about them them? Go read about poodles, I'm sure there was never any horrid poodle in the history of the world. Put that in your book.

Sunset on the Farm

There's a lovely little dog park next to Ewetopia out in Roy, Washington. The dogs had fun exploring it after a hard day of learning to herd sheep (more on that later), just as the sun was starting to set with the sounds of sheep, barn swallows and working dogs in our ears. It's the profound, yet peaceful moments like these, that help me appreciate the complex relationship humans and dogs share, side by side, doing what they have done for thousands of years. What a remarkable thing.

Herding Instinct Test

Taking the dogs (5 Shibas and the Caucasian Ovcharka) for their first ever Herding evaluation at Ewetopia

The owners feel it is safer for the Shibas to work with sheep instead of ducks. I'm relieved since I wasn't looking forward to "you break it you buy it" duck for supper. Wish us luck!

Interview For Japanese TV

Today the Shiba Inus and their people were the stars of a pilot episode featuring Japanese things in America for a new Japanese television series out of Osaka, Japan. We spent over 2 hours shooting in several locations. Now Ike, Beebe, Farrah, Grym, Penny, Pip, Eli, Maluko and Koji, with their people Sandra, Pam and myself, are super awesome Japanese TV stars! 

They basically asked us why we chose Shiba Inus (clean, small, quiet-ish, primitive, not in your face) and how we think they represent Japanese culture (they are a National Treasure, number 1 companion pet in Japan, reserved, naturally beautiful, artless grace, discussed Kan-i, Ryosei, and Soboku and learned how to pronounce them correctly!). They asked what their names were and why we chose American names over Japanese names (the dogs were born in America afterall).

The director was also interested in where we got our dogs (insert multiple shameless plugs here), if strangers approach us looking at our dogs and what do they say (are those foxes?), and if they are becoming more popular in America (mentioned puppy mills and pet stores!!!!). For some reason, they were particularly interested in our Shiba Inu bumperstickers and wanted to know what they ment and if people commented on them.

In turn, I learned about some very interesting cultural differences via their American liason. He indicated that his apartment was considered spacious by his Japanese friends, and it was basically the size of my kitchen. Holy cow, that's why they all nodded their heads in approval when I stated the Shiba Inus small size makes them a popular pet in Japan, and I believe it if their living quarters are that small. No wonder so many Japanese train their dogs to go on pee pads indoors in their crates.

Lastly, they were duely impressed by (frightened of) the Caucasian Ovcharka, but he was not so fond of them. I was suprised that several of the Japanese film crew asked if he was an Akita. Fail. They must not see too many Akita up close. Sadly, we were too busy to get many pictures of ourselves, however, we will be getting a DVD copy of the shoot to share with everyone, hooray!

Rawr!

I luvs you Koji

Koji, I win

Eli

Ike

Ike

Agility Fun with Eli

Ike, Farrah, Koji

Eli and Pam get interviewed at the park. Thanks to the asshat
who drove by us during MY interview yelling "Ha, I ruined
your interview!" I apologized on behalf of the American
people for this guys rudeness.

Calling NASA, I Have a Breeding Question

I was looking at vendor booths while at the dog show. My eye was captured by a set of snazzy little blankets and vests. The vendor began telling me how NASA designed this special heat absorbing garment to regulate temperature in space of astronauts during re-entry, etc. It can also be used to keep dogs cool and prevent them from overheating. She was trying to sell me some. I thought to myself that my dogs have their own built in space blankets and the ability to pant to cool down. Why would I need something like this with a Shiba? Seeing the puzzled look on my face, she volunteered that she had English Bulldogs, and we both went "Ah, gotcha" at the same time, as that pretty much explained everything.

Dear NASA, since when did you become concerned with breeding dogs? I think we need to let bulldogs be extinct already if it takes space technology to keep them alive. Seriously, if you're going to invest all that time and money and research into making things stay alive that should be dead, why not make something really cool like a dinosaur? Or 100 Einsteins? We could use some more of those. Bulldog space blankets is right up their with your MAG (maximum absorbency garment) idea so astronauts and cosmonauts can wet themselves in space or while driving across the country to stalk their lovers. Toilets are sooo 20th century. Yeah that's cool, not!

I Want a Border Collie

I am turning to the Dark Side. I want a Border Collie as my next working/performance dog. I am not giving up on training with Shibas at all, but there are these great Border Collies enrolled in my Rally and Focus classes that I am mesmiraized with. It's been great fun watching how they learn and speaking with their owners, and seeing what great dogs they can be to work with.

Beebe, my Flyball/Agility Shiba, is not as physically sound as she needs to be in order to safely continue with Agility training, which is why I am getting back into Rally with her. Her conformation is terrible and I don't want her to injure herself on one too many jumps, although bless her little heart, she is an enthusiastic worker.

So, I am looking for a sound dog who is built to work and wants to work...down the road of course, not right now.

More Home Improvement

The nosey white trash loud mouth neighbor was banging on my entry gate again and jiggling the handle to let herself in, ignoring the very upset words from my dogs. She complains, "You gotta do something about these gates. I can't see in." Nosey neighbor tries to scare me by citing rape, murder, fire, no one can come save me from burglars, or strangers, or people trying to hurt my dogs, etc, etc, etc. Naturally, the irony of her own words are lost on her, and she doesn't seem to realize that she was just trying to unlawfully enter my property in broad day light while my dogs were loose in the yard. Impenetrable gates stay as they are.

To put this in perspective, these two...gentlewomen...remind me of my neighbor. Add some cigs and dentures, and voila!

Her next complaint (there was a list), involves some blackberries growing on the second lot, which is also blocking her view of my yard and she wants them gone yesterday.

Doggie Grandpa Wayne is the overseer of this new project

The worker was soon engulfed in the briar patch, but, it turns out we can start building soon. The soil drainage is good and the undeveloped lot, about 6000-7000 square feet, is enough for a second house for my parents to retire in. With any luck, at least one room of this new house will be built with the dogs in mind. The plan is to install a professional grooming tub and whelping room with a patio and secured small puppy yard off of it. That's plenty for the nosey neighbor to spy on, so she should be happy.

Picture Post

I iz Sleepy Puppy

Too Sleepy to Play

I iz Tired

We iz Tireds

I Take Nap Now, You Come Back Later

Beautiful Expression!



Beebe Hunting Bees



Why 8 weeks?

Here is a good link on the critical socialization period for dogs from Dog Star Daily. A quote that stands out to me is, "being accepting and friendly to people is the most important requirement of any companion dog." This is why, with Shiba Inu, who mature quickly in comparison to other breeds (potty trained by 6 weeks), I would like to see them in their new home by 8 weeks of age. With a breed that tends to be aloof, ask yourselves if it is more important for them to spend an extra two weeks with their littermates bonding with dogs, or meeting new people and learning that humans are fun and safe?

After having more experience in rescue, and those of you in rescue will have heard this too probably, the one thing that will sign a dogs' euthanasia release is bites to people. Attacking other dogs can be managed with seperation, and even then it doesn't always work, but human biting in this day and age especially, isn't going to be well tolerated legally.

There are puppy play groups and play dates in training centers, day care, friends dogs, current dogs, and so on that will help with keeping puppy current on appropriate dog interactions. However, I think it is more important to get the dog into a home where they will be well socialized with people as early as possible. This is not to say that the breed doesn't have issues with dog aggression as well, because they certainly can, but my first preference would be to help the dog along with being a good pet able to live with people, over being a good pack dog, although I definately desire both of these things in my dogs.

What are your opinions?

The CGC is not a Title

Great post by "Dog Show Newbie" on titles. AKC is coming up with all kinds of programs to keep the general public interested in spending money. A CGC is hard enough to earn with a Shiba or a CO, and it's expensive. I have paid over a $100 per dog on 6-8 week classes (for 4 dogs so far), including all the outside proofing and socializing, nursing home visits, trips to the hard ware store and other dog friendly events, etc. After all that work, make it a title already! The CGC certificate does not certify temperament I realize, but it does indicate to me that the owner is willing to put the time into socializing a dog, is willing to learn about responsible dog ownership, and is helping the dog to be well behaved in public. Can't say that about a Grand Championship title. Well, I consider it an achievement if AKC does not, especially for these 2 breeds, so I am declaring it on their individual pages even though I realize it is not an official title.

Biker Bitch

That's right, I said it. She is a bitch, but she loves her Grandpa :)

Canine Blood Donation

I love animals, and I am definitely a dog person. I also do something that I *think* many dog parents do, if they are in any way similar to human parents, and that is think of the worst. I think about what would happen to my dogs if they were suddenly injured, and what I would do if they were suffering or not getting what they needed, mostly the normal "what if" scenarios that cause me to hug them tighter and really go the extra mile for them.

Enter canine blood donation. It turns out canine blood donors are in high demand as our Veterinary technology reaches new peaks of increasingly complex critical care. Summer is the time of year with the greatest rate of canine death primarily due to trauma from car related injury, followed by dog on dog maulings. After that in no particular order is surgical blood loss, immune related anemias, cancers and cancer treatment, poisonings, and so on. Canine blood donation and blood components are critical in saving dogs that suffer from these things.

It turns out Grym is the perfect canine blood donor candidate for the Access Blood Bank canine donor program. He is over 50 lbs, he is calm, he is compliant, he will quietly lay still if I ask, he is not aggressive, and most importantly, he is the canine equivalent of a universal donor (it's a very rare blood type that, as in humans, can be given to any dog). On Thursday, he went in for his first donation. He got onto their donation table all on his own, and got a ton of liver treats.

"Grandma" went with us to help keep him happy. He is very hairy, so the Licensed Vet Tech needed to shave him.

Blood donation requires a jugular stick, and works via gravity. The needle is large, but he didn't mind. This is his giant hairy neck, and the little red line is his donated blood.

Grym donated about 450 mls of canine blood. This will save the lives of about 3-4 dogs, and will make at least 3-4 families very, very happy.

He got his "I donated blood today" bandanna, scored a bunch of liver treats, and picked out a brand new Kong Wubba, which the Shibas promptly stole from him. He also got a cheeseburger and more liver for supper.

The staff stated he was a perfect donor and an excellent breed ambassador. They had never met a Caucasian Ovcharka, and seemed genuinely pleased to include him in their program. I am so proud of him.

Fit Paws and My Favorite Pet Supply Stores

My guilty pleasure lately has been online shopping at dog supply companies. I'm not looking for generic things, my interests are leaning towards specialty items with time and experience. When I was supporting 1-2 dogs and myself only, money was no object and with lack of know-how, I spent wildy and in excess. As a consequence, I have cupboards and shelves full of dog supplies that are basically useless and turned out not to be good purchases. It's always a bit iffy buying online, but over time, I have learned to be a smarter shopper for my discriminating canines.

Today I got in my first order from Clean Run. This is an online company dedicated to the performance hound, with a heavy focus on excellent training materials and sporting/training equipment. From left to rightish, there are Ice Pods for the up comming summer shows, a book on building Agility equipment, The Focused Puppy, Puppy Sounds for conditioning working and show puppies :), the DVD Calming Signals, Fit Paws for all the dogs (which Farrah was trying to steal for herself), and a Balance Pod for Beebe's conditioning and new babies :) The nobby textures on these last two items and wobbly undersides will help puppies mental development and confidence on uneven surfaces I believe.

 Pay special attention to the Fit Paws label and you will see why I HAD TO HAVE THIS!

How Big Does a Yard for a Shiba Inu Have To Be

I get some really weird search queries that bring people to this blog, but mostly they are good questions, which I am pleased about, like this one: How big does a yard for a shiba inu have to be?

The short answer is, it depends. Looking back to the days with my first Shiba, I rented and did not have a fenced yard. She had to rely on walks, dog park visits and doggy day care for her exercise. I admit I was thinner back then too and had all the time in the world to devote to her off leash recall (which is fabulous and due in part to not having a fenced yard), training and travel. That was adequate for 2 dogs and 2 small dogs are easy to walk with one person.

So, if you have 1-2 dogs, you really only need an area at home that is large enough to potty them, IF you are doing 2-3 walks a day for at least 30 minutes. Unless you run your dogs, they do deserve a chance to stretch their little legs and run full out once a day, so in this case, I do believe an enclosed dog park, tennis court or a friends/family yard is good.

Today, I usually have 5-10 dogs on any given day during the week and there is no way I can walk them separately and often enough to give them the exercise and stimulation they need, especially in light of their conditioning requirements for showing and performance sports (Flyball, Agility). This is why I now own a fully fenced acre, and our walks are no longer daily or needed for exercise beyond mental stimulation (they are out of the house often for mental enrichment). I also don't worry so much about door bolting and failed recalls. These are the nice parts about having a large fenced yard.

The not so nice part for many pet owners is the frustration of going to all the effort to fence a larger yard, only to find their Shibas refusing to potty in the new yard, and sitting on the doorstep pining to come inside to go on a walk, not frolicking as was intended. Dogs can quickly become isolated and forgotten this way if living with lazy owners. This is why some breeders I have spoken with are not so concerned about fenced yards, as the dogs who are being walked everyday tend to be in decent shape and are better socialized.

The tendency when fencing a yard, is to assume that the dogs will exercise themselves so the pressing need to do potty or exercise walks, is diminished. We all have these neighbors at some point who fall into this habit, who have 1 or 2 dogs that spend all day unattended in the backyard, no matter how large, and are never walked. They probably bark and dig out of boredom and look very sad while they sit on the porch waiting for someone to interact with them. Sometimes they leave their spacious yards much to their owners' perplexity, to go into your yard, or into the street, searching for someone to interact with.

This is the rub: a big fenced yard does not create a happy or exercised dog by virtue of being fenced in. So, what is the point of having an acre play area again? My play pasture is a safer, time saving alternative to multiple individual walks 2-3 times a day, and it serves as my private dog park and dog gymnasium, with a lot of work on my part to keep the dogs moving. Believe me, my dogs are not lazy backyard loungers and I am a busy mom for them making sure they get their needs met. They are not allowed to just sit around and veg when they are outside and this is where special attention needs to be paid. Planning adequate backyard exercise takes a surprising amount of effort.

Over time, I am learning the canines are more inclined to exercise the more of them there are. When my dogs have guests, they run and chase for hours. They leap and twirl and dig, catch tennis balls and race each other to climb to the highest point of their jungle gym. I use a chukit, a flirt pole, a pen light, agility equipment, and a custom dog jungle gym to make sure they are on the move. When they come inside after an average of 5-6 hours outside running, they are fit and exhausted.

So, it really depends on how many dogs there are and what you are willing to provide for them. 1 or 2 dogs can get by fine with out a fenced yard if given multiple walks daily. More than 3 dogs is hard for one person to walk usually in my experience, so if your yard is a good size and fenced (my parents' city has 1/4 acre lots for instance) just make sure the dogs are not spending all day loafing in the sun. Get out there and play with them, encourage them to run, or take them for a car ride to a dog friendly area for a walk, or a pet friendly store, or invite some of their doggy friends over for a play date. A tired Shiba is a good Shiba!

Happy Fourth!

Ike is patriotic red, white and blue while he sleeps off his 4th of July hangover. Happy and safe 4th to all my Shiba friends and their people. Keep those doggies cool indoors or where it is quiet, with collars and some radio or a touch of ace, benadryl or Rescue Remedy to help them help you enjoy the holiday.

What Constitutes a Puppy Mill?

I want to address this because of a new special forum troll buddy, who's "friend" has a puppy from a breeder. When presented with mountains of evidence listed by other people about what constitutes a puppy mill, he refuses to recognize that this place shares many features of a dog farm (the word "farm" is even in the kennel name!) So, I present you readers with a list of commonly accepted features associated with puppy mills, and ask you to decide for yourselves. PS, google the name and "puppy mill" pops right up in the search results.

1) USDA license
2) Multiple breeds with multiple litters on the ground
3) Designer breeds and mixes
4) Brokering for larger operations with smaller satelite facilities in cooperation (can be called back yard breeders)
5) Sick and injured dogs lacking medical care
6) Money is the priority
7) Limited health guarantee if any (a 1 year health guarantee is LAUGHABLE!)
8) Seem nice enough, but remember, their job is to make you comfortable so you buy from them, they are salespeople more than anything
9) Will sell to who ever has funds
10) Dogs are not standard and not shown (this is a big deal in Shibas, they need to be within standard and they need to have been shown before being bred)
11) Contract covers sellers' best interests, if there even is one
12) Lack of health testing (OFA, Penn Hip, Cerf) on breeding dogs but will almost always say "the Vet said it's healthy" when asked
13) Almost always will NOT mandate spay/neuter or return of dog if new owner is unable to care for it
14) and the list goes on for miles

Just because a dog farm seems to care about and professes to love their dogs, does not negate the facts. Just because the dogs have AKC registration, champions in their history, live indoors and are raised with children, does not rule out shady dealings and questionable motives or ethics. At best, that indicates a backyard breeding operation, where at least more often than not the dogs are actually cared for and there aren't that many of them, but still...when I read stories about this puggle puppy and this same puppy that almost died, I doubt very much that the intentions go beyond making money in a day and age when so, so many mix breed dogs and purebreds are in need of homes in shelters across the nation.

Don't take my word, here are some more interpretations. If it looks like a duck....

Can Shiba Inu be Therapy Dogs?

Here's one (this is for Inubaka), a Cream Shiba Inu therapy dog.

I think most Shibas will find therapy work a bit taxing and not really their style, but that is certainly not to say that there are not Shibas who will enjoy and excell at therapy work. I think good breeding also has a lot to do with it as most are aware that temperament and steady nerves are inherited. I see so many good things in Shibas, not just mine, that I can't help but to applaud quietly whenever I see one "working" outside the box and taking on a non traditional role for the breed, like Flyball and Pet Therapy.

Farrah is about 10 months old in this photo. She was doing her 4th nursing home visit and you can tell by her blurry wagging tail, that she is quite thrilled to meet people where ever she goes. Who knows, maybe some day when she is a big girl she can join the ranks of other non-traditional Shibas and become a real therapy dog :)

Hot and Spicey

She looks like a chorizo. This is one very tired beach bum puppy snoozing in the beach cabin after some surf time, while the people make paella. Be jealous, it was delicious and the weather and company were phenominal.